Eurovision 2023 will not be held in Ukraine, UK likely to host the contest

Eurovision organizers have announced that the next show will not take place in Ukraine due to the full-scale war. Eurovision 2023 is expected to be held in the United Kingdom, which came second in the song contest this year. This is evidenced by a statement from the European Broadcasting Union.

The organization noted that the "security and operational guarantees required for a broadcaster to host" the song contest cannot be fulfilled by the Ukrainian broadcaster.

The EBU thanked UA:PBC for "wholehearted cooperation and commitment in exploring all scenarios" for the next competition after the victory of Ukraine and "share their sadness and disappointment" that the competition will not go ahead in Ukraine.

The organizers will start talks with the British broadcaster BBC for the next year's event in the UK, whose representative was the runner up in 2022.

The EBU also stressed that Eurovision is one of the most complex television shows in the world, with thousands of people working on its preparation.

Background

On June 3, Minister of Culture and Information Policy Oleksandr Tkachenko stated that he had no doubt that Eurovision 2023 would be held in Ukraine. At the same time, he did not rule out that some conditions will have to be changed.

"We have no doubt that it (Eurovision - ed.) should take place in Ukraine. The only thing is that no one had held Eurovision before during the war,"  he said.

Ukraine's triumph

Ukrainian band Kalush Orchestra won the final of Eurovision 2022 with the song "Stefania". The leader of the band Oleh Psyuk dedicated the composition to his mother. This is the third victory for Ukraine in this competition after Ruslana in 2004 and Jamala in 2016.

After their performance, the band appealed to the world to save the defenders of Mariupol from Azovstal plant. After the announcement of the results, the frontman of the Kalush Orchestra thanked the world for supporting Ukraine and chanted "Glory to Ukraine!" from the stage.

The second place in the competition was taken by United Kingdom with 466 points, and Spain came third (459 points). Russia and Belarus were disqualified from the competition.

President Volodymyr Zelensky later said that Ukraine would do everything possible to host the Eurovision Song Contest in the rebuilt Ukrainian city of Mariupol.